And they gave silver to the stonemasons and the carpenters, and food, and drink, and oil to the people of Tsiḏon and Tsor to bring cedar logs from Leḇanon to the sea at Yapho, according to the permission which they had from Koresh sovereign of Persia.
Let it be known to the sovereign that we went into the province of Yehuḏah, to the House of the great Elah, which is being built with heavy stones, and timber is being laid in the walls. And this work goes on speedily and is blessed in their hands.
And I make a decree as to what you should do for the elders of these Yehuḏim, for the building of this House of Elah: Let the exact expense be paid to these men from the sovereign’s resources, out of the taxes beyond the River, so that they are not stopped.
“And sovereigns shall be your foster fathers, and their sovereignesses your nursing mothers. They bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am יהוה – those who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.”